Cliffs of Moher and the Whitman's

We had a great time last week with our friends the Whitman's. My college roommate and friend, Lizzy, and her husband 'the Doug' came to visit before they welcome their little baby this fall. They were troopers dealing with our kids especially because their vacation involved a trip to the West of Ireland to see the Cliffs of Moher and that meant at least 7 hours in the car with 2 little guys. Here are a few pictures:

Pretty spectacular. The Cliffs, not me. The tumor looking thing on my chest is Owen's head...he was in the Bjorn and it was really windy and wet so in the jacket he stayed.




Not the best Cliff pic but it was the only one with all of us.


I hope that these pics inspire more of you to come and visit us!

We also saw lots of old castles. One, Bunratty Castle, has been totally restored and is surrounded by a little park that shows how castle life was like way back when. Here is a picture there...no castle just a view:

Me and a cute 4 months pregnant Lizzy.

Here is a random Sunday afternoon pic:

Like father like son

Warmer Weather

It was great weather here last week...it was about 60 degrees and sunny and out came the convertibles and tank tops for the Irish. We at least went outside without a coat and hat. We took Easton and Wyatt to the 'beach' and they came home soaked and sandy.


It started with just wet pant legs...

then hands and shirts...

Alas...full blown sandy wetness...there was no stopping him.

Owen has started smiling a lot...we tried to capture it as best we could:

And we have been working on tummy time with him...he doesn't mind it so much but he mostly just keeps his head down and licks the blanket:

At least we put a blanket down!

Holy Smokes!

That's what you'll say when you see how many pictures make up this post. We've had a busy few weeks and I am gonna let the pics do most of the talking.

Our mini-vacation to Cork:

Easton and Rob in the hotel swimming pool...not so sure about the water wings...

Much happier with a little added safety!

At the Fota Wildlife Park. It is a 'no obvious barriers' zoo. Pretty cool...you can get really close to the animals obviously. It was darn cold though.


Could there be 'real' Mexican food in Ireland? The Cafe Mexicana in Cork came pretty close according to Rob. Quite tasty.

Brothers:

Easton loves to hold Owen's hand...pretty sure Owen doesn't love it so much.


Aird Family Visit:

Rob's dad and 2 Grandma's came for a visit...we did a lot of fun stuff:


At the park with Great Grandma Aird

Still at the park...it is a really beautiful park.

Park again.

This is an attractive pic of me on the cliff walk from Bray to Greystones (about a 5 mile walk). We did not do the whole 5 miles (we had a two year old and a bjorn) but it has spectacular views and is fun. Any future visitors to Ireland will most likely be taken here!

Cliff walk view.

With the Aird crew we went on the ferry over to the UK to go to the temple. Our temple is the Preston Englad temple. It is abot a 2 hour ferry ride and then a two hour drive from there. A little hectic with 5 adults and little ones but it was a good time.

On the deck of the ferry moments before Rob and his dad were pelted with vomit. That's right, vomit. And not my vomit or Easton's vomit which would be bad enough but a total stranger's vomit. We had the priveledge of riding on the ferry with about 100 13 year olds heading to some soccer tournanment. Seems a coca-cola and candy overdose mixed with the rough waters equals barfing and lots of it. Rob and Richard unfortunately were standing down wind of a kid who ran to barf over the side of the ship. Yikes.

The inside of the ferry. It is actually pretty cool if you take out all the vomit.

We made it to the temple...

It was really great to be able to go even if it was such a short trip...we only got to do one session but at least we did that...we almost missed it!

We came home from Preston (on a ferry with hardly any vomiting 13 year olds) in time for Easter.

Owen in his Easter gift from Grandma Audette


Easton and Wyatt in the backyard triumphant with their eggs.

We were able to bless Owen in church while Rob's family was here.

The whole crew.
So that's it. It has bee na fun few weeks. We are looking forward to visitors in May and then are heading to UT and CO in May/June...hopefully we'll see some of you then!

St. Patrick's Day

Dublin did not disappoint and St. Patrick's Day was a party. Of course, we weren't too involved in the party but we did do a little bit of celebrating. We decided not to go to the huge city center parade...Rob had to work (unlike most people here) and I didn't feel like rounding up the boys and taking them to the packed parade and I really didn't like the idea of trying to feed Owen one the side of the road on the parade route. So we went to the 'smaller' parade in Bray, a bit south of us. It was still pretty crazy. I still nursed Owen on the parade route but it was less daunting. A few pictures:

Pre-parade with buddy Wyatt


Me and the leprechauns.


I like to call this St. Patrick Day pride. Pretty much we celebrated SPD for about a week cause that's how long the tattoo stayed on Easton's cheek.


Crazy hats were most definitely involved.




This hardly does the madness justice but...

Thanks to Lizzy for Easton's SPD attire. So there you have it...I think next year we'll all go and experience the real city parade and festivities.

Oh, and my sister and I have started a little blog dedicated to baking. It is mostly just to share recipes with each other but if you have a hankering for some sugar you can always check it out to see what we're making: katieandamybake.blogspot.com

Joy in the Journey

So I think it was President Monson's LDS conference talk about finding joy in your life whatever the circumstances or season. He talked about enjoying being newlyweds and then enjoying your children when they are young because they grow so quickly instead of always wishing you were at the next point in life. I have to admit that I tend to have a problem finding joy in the journey sometimes. Yesterday at the grocery store we were shopping for this new recipe I was excited to make only to find that here in Ireland they didn't have a few of the key ingredients. I was bummed and really kind of annoyed. Rob, the ever wise husband, reminded me that it wasn't the end of the world and that I should have fun modifying the recipe instead of being grouchy about it.
And of course it can be tough to find joy in Easton taking off his diaper and peeing on the coffee table while I am nursing Owen(oh yes he did) but at the end of the day President Monson is right. Life goes by way too fast not to enjoy (or at least appreciate) every minute.
So that is my goal...to find joy in the journey and to really think about how I can find joy in the daily activities that make up my life. Maybe I should start a gratitude journal or something? Wish me luck. Here are some new pictures of the kiddo's for the most part:

Rob and Easton at Johnnie Fox's Pub. It is a classic Irish pub out in the countryside. Pretty cool.


Easton and his buddy Ivy feeding ducks, or better said, themselves M&M's






These are a couple of shots of Easton exercising. We got a few work out DVD's and if Rob and I are doing them Easton MUST do it as well. He gets really into it and tries to do all of the moves and even changes into his exercise shorts and ditches the shirt and NEEDS gum in order to work out to his full potential.



Owen. Easton has started calling him Little Buddy. It's pretty cute. Owen is getting to be more of a baby and less of a newborn.

Notice Rob's sweet mustache. He and the guys at work had a mustache contest...who could grow the best mustache in a month. Unfortunately, Rob's beard was more impressive than his mustache and he lost. I was pretty happy when that month was over and the mustache disappeared.

Grandma, Snow, and Crib Jumping

Yep, my mom is here. It is fantastic. She got here last week and since then I think I have showered every day and even been able to start exercising again! Easton is thrilled to have her here also...a small part of that excitement might be the fact that Grandma gives him a present every single day (and sometimes 2 presents). I'm sure that once she leaves he won't quite understand why he doesn't get presents anymore!
Owen is doing great. He is a good little sleeper and good eater and at this age that's about all you can hope for. We have been getting out a bit too. Last week I went with my friend Emily to Imaginosity, the children's museum here...it's a lot like the kids museum at the Gateway in SLC. Also, it snowed here in Dublin 2 weeks ago which is a pretty rare occurance. I got Easton bundled up and I think he got to play in the snow for 5 days in a row...not bad for living on a rainy island.
In more somber news, Easton has finally learned and mastered climbing out of his crib. Boo. It is giving us quite a few headaches especially since not only is he climbing out but he's doing it at 5am. He comes into our room saying "I no like this bed." Looks like a toddler bed and perhaps a locked door are in our future.
Here are a few pics of the last 2 weeks:



The boys


Rob and I with Owen after our V-day dinner


Owen in the sling


Easton playing in and eating the snow (yeah, what you see is pretty much the extent of the snow we got and that shut down the entire Dublin airport for an entire day.)

Easton in his new stroller blanket thingy...it is awesome

Easton and Grandma feeding the ducks

Easton got this bubble blower for V-day from his Grandpa and Grandma Nancy...loves it.

Owen and Grandma

Easton shopping at the children's museum